If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. ** If you are logged in, most ads will not be displayed. **

Noob Help

I am an average user of computers and have basic ideas on how a computer works. I am planning to slowly move from Windows to Linux and am looking for a stable and easy - userfriendly linux for me.
Before I installed, I was hoping to consult the pros.

I was planning to install Mandriva Linux 2008, but am not sure if it fullfills all my requirements.

1. A easy, fast and reliable access to NTFS harddisk system, without going to all the hassle of coding and editing.

again most distributions can do this, you just have to install the right codecs as you would in windows, some have support out of the box, others don't

3. A good-looking user interface.

You can install any of the user interfaces available on linux on any of the distributions, some come with more fancy interfaces than others, but any distro can be customized to use the one you want and look the way you want

4. USB 2.0 support with high PC to device transfer rate.

There is usb 2.0 support

5. Good number of bundled software, with good alternatives to Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Opera.

There is a good linux alternative to almost every software available for windows.The Linux Alternative Project - linuxalt.com
Not all distro's come with the required software, but most modern distros have a package manager that makes it very easy to install.

6. Stable and effecient. Reliable.

I've had linux machines up for months with no problems

7. Good security, support from Viruses, Spyware, and Malacious Scripts

There isn't any spyware for linux, and there aren't really viruses, but since you plan on using ntfs they could still infect those files and you can download antivirus software for linux, clamav is a common choice

8. Low resources useage, low CPU and RAM useage.

If you want an interface that is very flashy, this might be a problem, otherwise for the most part linux is great in this area since you only have to install what you need and no more, no extra crap running

9. Should be able to work in harmony with Windows XP Professional SP3

I don't know exactly what you mean by this, I think you mean that you can still boot to windows xp as well, which is quite possible and easy to configure for many distros.

10. Good Internet support and high-speed download manager.

I don't really know what you mean by this, are you referring to network cards being well supported, because most are, and I'm not sure about high speed download manager although, I don't really see the point in one of those to begin with

11. Easy to use and user friendly, even to an amature.

Depending on the distro you choose it will be easy or it will be more difficult, but there are distros that are very easy to use right out of the box

That is all I am looking for in the Linux OS. Any disturbution of Linux that you think is right for me, please post. I'll follow the majority. The NTSF support is very important though.
Thanks

Ubuntu is a good choice for a linux newbie IMO, good support for a lot of stuff out of the box, easy to install, download a livecd of ubuntu and maybe kubuntu so you can see if you prefer kde over gnome interfaces, other than that after you install you could replace them with any of the other window managers

I am however planning to install Linux in a 4GB HD, will it surfice, I'll have the 80GB one for other files, I only need to sustain Component Files of Linux and it's Programs on the 4GB HD, I'll have all my bigger files on the 80. Will it work?

Do you think Linux will work well on this system. Specially the good looking ones.

By Point no. 10 I mean to say that Linux has to provide me with good download speeds, on windows I've been accelerating my downloads with the help of Download Accelerator Plus and so I was wondering in Linux had something like DAP.

As you said, coopstah13, I searched around the web for the Ubuntu distro and actually stumbled upon a site that said, 30 days with ubuntu. I don't really what the guy was talking about but I liked the interface, better than Mandriva. But as people who came to our school discribed and showed us Mandriva, I got pulled towards it, so can you explain what are the differences between Mandriva and Ubuntu. Appart from the different look.

Apart from that, you mentioned two ubuntu distro Ubuntu and Kubuntu, can you explain what difference they have. I looked around for the screen shots and I liked the ubuntu one better than the kubuntu.

only difference between ubuntu and kubuntu is the user interface they come with by default, kubuntu comes with kde whereas ubuntu uses gnome

depending on your graphics, though intel graphics are pretty well supported in linux, you should be able to run most of the modern distros with no problems, your machine is pretty reasonable.

4 gb might be kind of low installation considering the programs you desire to run, I would say that it wouldn't be enough, but you could try.

theoretically you could make ubuntu and mandriva look exactly the same, usually the most major difference between distros is the package management system, ubuntu is a debian variant so it uses deb, i'm not sure what mandriva uses, I think it uses rpm/yum

as for DAP, or whatever you call it, i don't really know, i don't see how those things work, you only have as much bandwidth as the company gives you, its not like you can use software to gain more

You're on your road! Mandriva is right choice for you. I'm testing Ubuntu right now, but I'm not satisfied with certain things could annoy you:
1. Package handling: If you're trying to update some software there's no way to create a normal repository with multiple version of the packages. I've tried dpkg and AptonCD, but the end result: instable system with unsatisfied dependencies. I like the way Mandriva does the job.
2. It's oriented to Gnome: Gnome is far weaker DE than KDE, and is not "independent" from KDE's applications (if you want serious programs) like K3b or Krusader. There is Kubuntu, but honestly I would not recommend it to you.
Ubuntu is so fragile!
Mandriva is stable enough, and fulfills all the criteria you've mentioned above.

You should leave about 3.5 GB space for installation, and you'll need at least the same amount for different file manipulation, so I'll recommend 10 - 15 GB.
You'll find your Windows useless sooner or later

What if I install the core files on the 4gb disc and place all the other files in my 80 gb disc. I have various files and windows running on the 80gb one and windows works on NTFS system where as Linux works on FAT32, so if i change my disc to fat32, windows is not going to work. Can't i install all the core files on the 4 gb disc and place all the additional programes on the 80 gb disc?

Plus, I finally got hold of a distro called Fedora 7. upon booting from the DVD, it says your CPU does not support the long mode. Please use the 32bit distro. How am I suppose to do that. Can't I somehow, use this DVD to install it. I don't know which one I'm going for, guess I'll just have to decide later.

Can you tell me if Fedora 7 fullfils all my requirements?
And how to install it, from the same DVD?

What if I install the core files on the 4gb disc and place all the other files in my 80 gb disc. I have various files and windows running on the 80gb one and windows works on NTFS system where as Linux works on FAT32, so if i change my disc to fat32, windows is not going to work. Can't i install all the core files on the 4 gb disc and place all the additional programes on the 80 gb disc?

Plus, I finally got hold of a distro called Fedora 7. upon booting from the DVD, it says your CPU does not support the long mode. Please use the 32bit distro. How am I suppose to do that. Can't I somehow, use this DVD to install it. I don't know which one I'm going for, guess I'll just have to decide later.

Can you tell me if Fedora 7 fullfils all my requirements?
And how to install it, from the same DVD?

There are no "core files" and other kind of files under Linux. You have a specific file system with different folder for different purposes e.g "/etc" for settings "/var" for packages and so on. It's better if you think about the file system like it has two parts: /home/user as public part, and the others where you don't have what to do (except the /media and /mnt).
Linux normally works on ext2, reierfs... FAT32 is for Windows. You don't have to change anything on your NTFS partition, except if you want to resize it, or to reinstall Windows. Linux and Windows can coexist on the same PC.
Your PC is 32-bited. There are no possibilities installing a 64-bited OS on it. That's why the Fedora refused the installation.
Basically you have 2 HD's, one of 4GB and one of 80GB isn't?
You could use your 4GB disk for your personal documents and the larger should be repartitioned.
I would do it like that:
1. Create an ext3 partition of 20GB
2. Create a swap partition of 1GB
3. Create NTFS partition with the rest of the space.
4. Install Windows
5. Install Linux (32-bited)